Southward Migration (on moving to Tampa)

I took a new job recently and I'm moving to Tampa. One of my first projects for said new job is to find myself a place to live (renting for now) and get moved down there. Are there any current or former Tampa area Arsians willing to share your experiences with the area? Like, what neighborhoods or areas within the city are good/bad? How far/where outside the city can I reasonably live if I need to commute to the AFB on a semi-regular basis? What are some of the better near-by beaches and watering holes?

I'm a born and raised New Englander so it's going to be quite the change. Anything you're willing to share would be helpful.

I'm more familiar with the Safety Harbor, Oldsmar, Clearwater areas of Tampa (I'm a sometimes resident) but I'm happy to lend opinions.

BeachClearwater beach itself is consistently rated highly. Honeymoon and Caladesi islands are more off the beaten path and really gorgeous. Fort Desoto is worth a trip. Has some military history and fun dolphin watching (at least when I've visited).

FoodThe Hyde park in Tampa area has some unique restaurants. One I can recall is Hyde Park Cafe. Sorta sophisticated diner grub.

In Safety Harbor I'd try the Whistle Stop Cafe or the BBQ place right in the downtown (Safety Harbor ain't big, you'll find it.)

Dunedin has some good places on it's little main drag. Cafe Alfresco is one to try has a good basic menu, bit of an older (retiree) crowd. Strachen's homemade ice cream is right there too. I think they have a location in Palm Harbor as well.

Country Pizza Inn is a Clearwater tradition. They have Greek stuff on the menu too. Also in Clearwater, I like Muggs N Juggs (bar food) for football Saturdays (I'm a Buckeye, it's an OSU crowd there).

Crazy buffet is one of those huge asian buffets. Near the International mall. Quality has gone down hill recently though I'm afraid. YMMV.

Like, what neighborhoods or areas within the city are good/bad? How far/where outside the city can I reasonably live if I need to commute to the AFB on a semi-regular basis?

What type of area you looking for, very different areas if you are married with kids compared to looking to party!

What do you consider a reasonable commute? I am just north west of the city and its probably an hour to the AFB for me during rush hour.

Compared to the north east, you will get an hour+ more of daylight a day, more so in the winter. The summer here is very much like the summer there, hot and humid, except there is usually a breeze here. The winter here is more like spring up there, occasional cold day but usually in the mid to high 70s during the day.

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What are some of the better near-by beaches and watering holes?

I don't know many beaches, but watering holes, well Tampa is a drinking town, so there are a lot of choices, ranging from neighborhood corner bar to all you can drink meat market, just depends on what you are looking for.

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The Hyde park in Tampa area has some unique restaurants. One I can recall is Hyde Park Cafe. Sorta sophisticated diner grub.

HPC is pretty much just a dance club now, but there are several good places to eat nearby. Monstah lobstah recently moved just across the street from HPC and will be your best place to find good Maine lobster in the area (most other places will have spiny Caribbean lobsters).

I'm not sure how anyone can describe high points of Tampa cuisine and forget Ybor City for cuban food. The Columbia is canonical, but a bit more upscale than I'm usually looking for when I think, "Oh, cuban!". Sadly, I can't recommend the place I used to go whenever I was in that area to drop off trucks back in '91, as it's long since gone (as am I...) but there's a good cuban sandwich shop there on just about every corner.

What type of area you looking for, very different areas if you are married with kids compared to looking to party!

What do you consider a reasonable commute? I am just north west of the city and its probably an hour to the AFB for me during rush hour.

I'm moving down with my girlfriend. We're 28/29, no kids and no plans for the foreseeable future, but we're not really looking to party either. Ideally we can find somewhere reasonably quiet, but close enough to restaurants/venues that we can do that when we want without having to drive an hour.

I don't think I care whether I'm directly in the city or in a near-by town. I think I'd want to keep my commute to 45ish minutes or less. I've been doing a bit of reading around and taking everything with a giant grain of salt, but it seems like there are some neighborhoods that I absolutely do not want to be near.

Ybor is OK, but at night it's a wretched hive of scum and villainy. ++ on the Columbia though. Yum. Pricey, but yum.

Make a point to visit the St. Pete Pier. Bastard city is closing it. Everything else in St. Pete sucks. There's a Columbia in the pier as well, with the added ++ of not being in Mos Fucking Eisley and having a fantastic view.

McDill itself isn't too far from downtown area, so restaurants and places to go kind of cover themselves. You won't be far from the International Mall.

Crazy Buffet is good for slop, all you can eat Asian food. Kinda meh quality, but it is fun.

The Green Iguana is pretty good and fun, and they have lots of events there. My boxing coach frequently has fights there, and if you're into MMA it's fun to watch. The fights there are usually pretty well organized. Good hamburgers.

World of Beer is all over the place here and it's kind of a Beer Lover's Mecca.

Seems like a good place to ask, anyone know where there are some good batting cages in the area? I have had a hankering to see if I still have it, but haven't been able to find anyplace open to the public.

If you're working at MacDill, you're going to want to live North of Gandy Blvd. and South of Kennedy Blvd; you can live as far east as the Channelside district. This will give you about a 15 minute "commute", tops. I have commute in quotes, because anywhere in that area will be a super easy commute with no highway driving.

South of Gandy is possible, but it's kinda sketchy. Cheap rents, but you'll be living next to people with cars on blocks in the front yard. There are a few pockets, but you have to know the area to find them.

North of Kennedy is high-crime until you go much farther north, and even then you're looking at medium crime and a fucking murderous commute. THere are MANY nice pockets to live in north of Kennedy, but they're very expensive and will the commute will make you want to kill yourself.

Now, you can also live in St. Pete, BUT most of St. Pete is summed up like this: Nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. It's expensive to live anywhere nice, and the crime is worse than Tampa. There are cool restaurants and stuff, but you really have to drive everywhere--and drive far. You will need to keep an eye on Janus' Landing's website...they're in downtown St. Pete and get some really great bands coming through. Excellent venue.

If you decide to live in South Tampa, there are a lot of great restaurants & bars. Bern's is one of the best steakhouses in the country. Datz is delicious, The Green Iguana (on West Shore) has awesome bar food. Square One has great burgers (and lots of variety like ostrich). Pinky's on Bay to Bay Blvd. has AMAZING breakfast, but get there early--same with First Watch. Cappy's pizza across the street is pretty good, but my favorite Pizza in town is Marco's. Westshore Pizza has a 2-for-$5 deal...two slices of pizza (substantial) and a drink (Stella on draft!).

Ybor sucks at night (all clubs & junk), but during the day, its' great. The Laughing Cat is probably my favorite restaurant in town. There's also good greek food at the Acropolis and my favorite brewery anywhere, Tampa Brewing Company. The theater in Ybor (Muvico) is very good and has a premier that has tables, big chairs, and liquor. New World Brewery doesn't brew their own, but they have a great selection of micros and live music Thurs-Sunday nights.

Occasionally, you'll need to drive up to Skipper's Smokehouse. It's almost literally a shack in the woods, but they have awesome seafood and attract some incredible bands to their outdoor stage. I highly recommend catching The Red Elvises and Southern Culture on the Skidz at the first opportunity.

The Westshore/International mall area has some really good restaurants. The theater at Westshore is above average.

For beaches, Clearwater is gorgeous but getting in & out is a pain in the ass. I really like St. Pete Beach (and the surrounding beaches). John's Pass is full of touristy crap, but a fun strolling afternoon.

What do you guys like to do?

Oh, and Jetta, there is a batting cage/driving range on Hillsborough north of the airport.

For beaches, Clearwater is gorgeous but getting in & out is a pain in the ass. I really like St. Pete Beach (and the surrounding beaches). John's Pass is full of touristy crap, but a fun strolling afternoon.

I won't say not to bother with Clearwater Beach, but I will say it generally just kind of sucks. Not because it's not nice, but once you get in (which is a pain in the ass), find parking (which is a pain in the ass), walk like 10 miles to where you actually wanted to be (since parking is a pain in the ass), and find an open 3ft^2 spot on the beach, you'll decide the whole day was a pain in the ass and go home. And if you don't, some giant landwhale will dump a load of screaming crotch monkeys about 15inches from your face. THEN you'll decide the day was a pain in the ass and go home.

I'm in Tallahassee (Tally) and while the comment about the hurricanes was funny, it's quite true. I work for the big state run insurance company and the modeling forecasts this year are not funny by any stretch. It could very well be like in years past where we were constantly bombarded.

That said, Florida is a beautiful, if a tad uptight place. It's filled with old folks who do nothing but sit around an bitch, and pretty young folks who care nothing for the old folks. Rest of fall somewhere in the middle. Speaking spanish will get you places you may not realize, such as certain clubs or even discounts at taco stands here and there.

I didn't realize how prevalent the whole FSU v. UF thing was until I watched people in a bar in Daytona go at each other over it. Sad really. So much stuff to be divisive over already and *that* is what led to blows.

I think you will enjoy it for the most part. Just be sure to get out of the city limits and see the treasure coast areas that are the true hidden gems of the state.

Ft. Desoto is nice but they charge $5 a day to park there now and it can be a pain in the ass getting on the park now. There is a nice dog park there if you have one but you have to beware of sand burs and things getting into their fur.

Ft. Desoto is nice but they charge $5 a day to park there now and it can be a pain in the ass getting on the park now. There is a nice dog park there if you have one but you have to beware of sand burs and things getting into their fur.

Last time I was there I had no problems getting in or out. And IIRC I never paid for parking.

Florida isn't really THAT uptight...I wear UMiami clothes on occasion and I rarely have ever gotten any commentary for it. South Florida is a weird mix of New York and Cuba which can result in a lot of non-shenanigans, but central FL for the most part is dominated by redneck culture. I'm told it's SEKRITLY dominated by the Scientologists (home base: Clearwater), but honestly asides from it painting a bit of the local culture I can't say I've ever felt affected by them.

I'm told it's SEKRITLY dominated by the Scientologists (home base: Clearwater), but honestly asides from it painting a bit of the local culture I can't say I've ever felt affected by them.

Scientologists, for better or worse, have invested heavily in Clearwater community (primarily through purchasing real estate). In the Clearwater area, particularly downtown, it quite easy to run across Scientology Navy personnel. They've adopted the dress and mannerisms of a military organization.

We went to the beach at Clearwater (Sand Key Park) last Saturday and it was gorgeous. Nice thing about February is that not many people go to the beach! And being fresh off the turnip truck from MN, the 82 degree day was PERFECT.

Was still a PITA to get to the beach, can't imagine how bad it would be on a summer weekend.

Reviving this thread since I am almost certain I'll be relocating to Tampa within the next 4 months. I'm looking for advice on what areas in Tampa I should move to if I'm looking to start a dog walking business. Kind of a odd request, I know.

Reviving this thread since I am almost certain I'll be relocating to Tampa within the next 4 months. I'm looking for advice on what areas in Tampa I should move to if I'm looking to start a dog walking business. Kind of a odd request, I know.

That really depends on where your clients are located. I'm guessing given that "being able to afford a dog walker" == "available disposable income" the majority of your clients would be in South Tampa (on a map, it's the peninsula that sticks into the bay). If that's the case, I would look for a place South of Kennedy Blvd. and North of Gandy Blvd. North of Kennedy is a high crime area, and South of Gandy is mostly military due to its proximity to MacDill, but it's a slightly depressed area. High rental population who does not take care of the area. I hate to be a negative nancy, but good luck with a dog walking business in this city. While the country may be recovering from the recession, the Tampa Bay area is about a year or two behind the curve. HIGH unemployment abounds.

Remember too, Tampa is very much dominated by its car culture. We are a case study in urban sprawl, so traffic SUCKS. Don't think that you can look at a map and judge travel times.

I ended up moving to Citrus Park right on the Westchase border. It's a pretty nice mix of commercial businesses and apartment/housing complexes. Lots of sidewalks for walking/running/dogs but main roads are typically 45MPH and drivers (generalization) are completely insane / retarded / both. It's around 30 minutes outside of downtown without traffic, and over an hour with. You can easily double your driving time during rush hours pretty much regardless of where you're trying to go.

South Tampa has the more historic residential area so roads are generally smaller/slower, but drivers are still insane. There's more in the way of houses and less in the way of sprawling apartment complexes. It's more expensive though, by quite a bit in some areas.

Stay away from U of SF and the number streets north of Kennedy unless you don't like going outside at night.

Teehee! I'm in Odessa right on the Westchase border . The nice thing of living just outside of Westchase is you get the nice community without that stupid little CDD.

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It's a pretty nice mix of commercial businesses and apartment/housing complexes. Lots of sidewalks for walking/running/dogs but main roads are typically 45MPH and drivers (generalization) are completely insane / retarded / both. It's around 30 minutes outside of downtown without traffic, and over an hour with. You can easily double your driving time during rush hours pretty much regardless of where you're trying to go.

Veteran's is the way to go for that region. Or for any region really.

Where are you from originally? I'm curious since I don't view Tampa drivers as that insane, outside of the fact that speed limits are pretty much suggestions.